Dysfunctional Demands

Today's society has gone down a very crooked and crazy path. Morals are thrown out the window while caution and care are things of the past. We rush through life. We blame others for the shortcomings we face.
In the business world, its all about money. Push until they collapse, is the business motto I think my own employer should embrace. Better yet, maybe companies should compile personnel requirements outside of work. Here's what I mean....
I work for a sales company. 8-5, Monday - Friday. Sales is all about money. The more, the merrier. For the owners at least. Doesn't matter how much I bring in to the company as I'm only an administrative assistant to one of their Million Dollar Producers.
That life doesn't compliment the personal side of my life. I have 4 kids. Oldest one is 8 years old. His school expects me to read to him every night, do several pages of homework every night, have him read to me, while also getting him to bed by 7:30 PM so he won't be too tired for school the next day. Normally, I get home a little before or right at 6 PM. I have an hour and a half to do the  following:
Reading (most nights my fiancé has their homework done before I get home)
Serve dinner (same as above, my fiancé tries to have dinner made by the time I get home)
Cleanup the dinner mess
Brush teeth and get everyone bathed
Make their lunches/snacks for school the next day (they have to tell me what they want)
And a final bedtime story.
This is not how it should be. And then I still get notes from the school that my oldest is failing first grade. That I'm not helping him enough. I need to read more and work harder with him at his homework. I'm sorry that the teacher isn't getting these done enough with him while she has him for 8 hours a day, but I also don't have enough time to cram more into him. Besides, by time I get home, he's dead tired and ready to eat and sleep. That's why its a fight to finish his homework.
I know I'm not the only parent out there with these issues. More studies are being done that show how this is a failing system. Kids aren't getting time with their parents. If they are like my kids, they probably watch their parents run errands or clean house on the weekends since they had no time during the week to. Studies also show that business people these days are burnt out from 8 hour days at work by the time they reach Wednesday. They also quit at an alarming rate because of the demands from their workplace. Taking time off is considered a hardship on the company and is frowned upon. My employer doesn't allow you to call in on the first, 15th, or last Friday of the month. My supervisor even told me that I needed to avoid taking off Mondays and Fridays. Understandable for business reasons, but it adds stress of trying to fit outside life into those guidelines. Job burn out causes people to stress more, have higher likeliness of illness, depression, and ultimately throwing in the towel. Some companies are seeing that lessening the workweek, say a 4 day workweek, has increased their productivity and overall happiness of their employees. Less vacation and sick days are taken. People have that day to take care of doctors appointments, take longer weekend trips, and spend time with loved ones. Amazon is one of those companies. I loved working my 10 hour days 4 days a week. If it weren't for my back problems, I'd still be there. The environment was great. They pushed everyone to care for themselves and well-being in order to, not care for the company, but to care for those they provide a paycheck for. Amazon leaders told their employees to watch themselves and do all they could to stay healthy. Not so that they would not miss work so much and cause hardship on the company. They did so while reminding everyone that if we missed time, we lose pay. We lose pay, we lose out on providing for our families. That is what companies are failing to do these days. Forget about telling your employees that they are a burden if they miss a day. Your employees don't care about that. Especially when you rake in millions-billions every year regardless. Remind me that my family is depending on me. Tell me that my paycheck is important to keep us afloat. That's what I need to hear to push myself. Give me one more day during the week to take care of those needs I otherwise have to avoid... and you have yourself a happier woman who is willing to drive herself to exhaustion to make it work.

So here is what I suggest. Companies should reevaluate the demands and amount of time they make people work each week. OR only hire single individuals, with no children, no outside life, and a love of money. Because people like me just don't fall into the guidelines of success they write otherwise.

Never underestimate yourself

I can't tell you how many times I'm reminded of this. Of my own self worth and the value I can offer to others. How many times have I felt worthless? That I didn't have what it takes to make it in the world? Especially in the corporate sales world. It is brutal out there. And no one is looking to be your friend. They are looking to build themselves up. To keep climbing that ladder to the big bucks and fancy living. Or so I've always thought until now.
I've met so many people in my career paths. People from all walks in life that are genuine. People who are looking to improve not only themselves, but others as well. These people give freely of their time, their knowledge, and sometimes their resources to bring better life to those they meet. What is better life? Its being happy. Its doing the things you love. Its being healthy. And some people are naturally good at helping others achieve these things. I'm happy to say I have met so many of them. My godmother, my boss and his wife, a colleague in the business world... the list could go on.
What is one thing these people remind me of? Don't underestimate yourself. Why? Because I am my biggest critic. I put myself down. I tell myself that I can't make it. And I need to be reminded that I can. We can do whatever we set our mind to. We can push ourselves to achieve anything we want. We might need that reminder, that kick in the pants, to get us up when we start to fall. But we can keep at it and we will succeed. My supervisor has a quote hanging at her desk that reminds me daily of what I need to tell myself in order to succeed at work; "Whether you think you can, or you can't, you're right." (Henry Ford)
I'm going to make a conscious effort to live by this saying. I'm going to tell myself that I can. I'm going to make it in sales. I'm going to be the woman, the mother, the daughter, the girlfriend that I want to be. I'm not going to stop until I reach my goals. And even then, I'm going to keep making new goals. Because life doesn't stop after attaining the house, financial freedom, dream living... It just begins in a new chapter with a new dream.

BuildASign.com business cards review

I just received 250 business cards as a review promotion from BuildASign.com.

I created a personalized design using the easy to understand tools they provide. I didn't have to download anything. It took less than 10 minutes to create the cards for my husbands Lego business. They have designs you can use as well with imagery and preset boxes where you add your own texts. The cards are on durable card stock. They look so professional. My husband is thrilled.
As a blogger looking to expand my audience and my husband who is looking to take his Lego selling from a hobby to an actual home based business, business cards are a welcome way of advertising. Especially since they are far more portable and less pricey than other ways. BuildASign.com has other advertising options as well such as banners, various magnets, signs, bumper stickers, license plates, decals, stakes and frames, and more! Some of these are even shipped free. I did the math for the business cards. 250 cards for $13.99 = .05 each! Not bad when you consider the return you'd get for your business being promoted.
I great recommend you checking them out. I even have a nifty button on the side of my blog so if you want to get to them quick and don't want to search for this post, just check the right side there! Let me know what you think about them. I love hearing from my readers.

Avery product reviews via Shoplet.com

Shoplet.com recently sent me some Avery office products to try and write a review about.
First up, is the Flexi-View Presentation Binder. I love the title page pocket in the cover that allows me to put a page or picture in the front. That way I know what the binder contains. There is also a sleeve in the back cover to hold a few extra pages. So if you were using this for a presentation, you could put a title page in the front, your presentation inside, and pages to hand out in the back. There are even slots in the back sleeve to hold your business card so your binder can be recognized as yours. Its also a flexible binder. Rigid binders can have a tendency of bending/breaking in the middle if something heavy gets placed on top. With a flexible binder, however, no worries of that happening. It makes it a little more compact too for carrying on the go. Personally, I think this binder is great for keeping recipes in. Wipe off the cover if it gets messy, separate the types of recipes... Sounds like a winners plan to me!

In addition to the binder, were Ready Index Durable Table of Contents Dividers. I'm all about being organized, and these definitely keep me organized. They are "3 ways stronger": stronger, heavier paper, stronger tab reinforcement, and double-sided hole reinforcement. The more durable the paper - the less likely it will be to weaken and rip during use. The tabs are reinforced to keep them from falling off over time and through wear. And my favorite? Double-sided hole reinforments on the tabbed dividers. Why? How many times have my pages fallen out over time because the holes got ripped?? Its a pet peeve of mine. So I love having them reinforced. These have 8 tabs per pack. Dividers are also made of 30% post-consumer recycled paper. Let's remember to recycle and reuse right? One more benefit to these; they can be used in portrait or landscape orientation. For those who don't understand geek speak - straight up and down, or laying on the side. You can create the table of contents at: avery.com/library.

My next favorite product in the group would have to be the Printable Tags with Strings. There are 96 tags on 12 sheets with 100 strings. Oh the possibilities... For small businesses, you could print price tags to label your merchandise with. You can get the free templates and designs to help you prepare your tags at avery.com that do not require software downloads. They have templates that match the product number. These tags print to the edge creating a premium professional look. These are perforated keeping them professional and easy to separate. They are also double-sided cardstock to optimize the richness in colors. The tags come with quick-latch fasteners that make it easy to assemble them.

They can come quite handy. You can tag gifts, label products you are selling, or as I did - make labels for traveling. In case my luggage gets misplaced or lost, there is a name and number to contact.

And I can edit each individual tag for various people instead of all of them being the exact same.

Next up are Print-to-the-Edge Round Labels. They come on 10 Glossy White pages that carry 120 labels. Each one is 2" in diameter. Again, templates are available through the Avery website.

I also love the fact that Avery is an Official Box Tops for Education Brand. They have box tops on their products that you can use to support your school. And the packaging is recyclable on these!

I used these to make stickers to promote my blog. Absolutely LOVE how they came out!

And finally we come to the Tri-Fold Brochure with tear-away cards. My husband and I used these to create coupons for those who had ordered several times from his online Lego selling hobby/business.

It was fast and easy (well, minus the time we debated on what to say and how to present them). The template on the Avery website made everything so simple.

I hope you enjoyed this review and got some ideas of your own on things you might have a use for from these wonderful Avery products. Remember to check out Shoplet.com and see what else they have to offer for your small business, home organization, or office needs! Leave me a comment on what you think.